Early frequency reporting for fast setup of carrier aggregation or dual connectivity

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus for early frequency reporting for fast carrier aggregation (CA) and/or dual connectivity (DC) setup in a wireless communication system is provided. A wireless device reports, to a network, information informing that a neighbor frequency can be aggregated with a serving frequency using one of 1) carrier aggregation (CA), 2) dual connectivity (DC), or 3) both CA and DC.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 119 (e), this application claims the benefit ofKorean Patent Applications No. 10-2019-0057074, filed on May 15, 2019,No. 10-2019-0075810, filed on Jun. 25, 2019, No. 10-2019-0075834, filedon Jun. 25, 2019, and No. 10-2019-0075844, filed on Jun. 25, 2019, thecontents of which are all hereby incorporated by reference herein intheir entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to early frequency reporting for fastcarrier aggregation (CA) and/or dual connectivity (DC) setup.

BACKGROUND

3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) long-term evolution (LTE) is atechnology for enabling high-speed packet communications. Many schemeshave been proposed for the LTE objective including those that aim toreduce user and provider costs, improve service quality, and expand andimprove coverage and system capacity. The 3GPP LTE requires reduced costper bit, increased service availability, flexible use of a frequencyband, a simple structure, an open interface, and adequate powerconsumption of a terminal as an upper-level requirement.

Work has started in international telecommunication union (ITU) and 3GPPto develop requirements and specifications for new radio (NR) systems.3GPP has to identify and develop the technology components needed forsuccessfully standardizing the new RAT timely satisfying both the urgentmarket needs, and the more long-term requirements set forth by the ITUradio communication sector (ITU-R) international mobiletelecommunications (IMT)-2020 process. Further, the NR should be able touse any spectrum band ranging at least up to 100 GHz that may be madeavailable for wireless communications even in a more distant future.

The NR targets a single technical framework addressing all usagescenarios, requirements and deployment scenarios including enhancedmobile broadband (eMBB), massive machine-type-communications (mMTC),ultra-reliable and low latency communications (URLLC), etc. The NR shallbe inherently forward compatible.

Carrier aggregation is a technique used in wireless communication toincrease the data rate per user, whereby multiple frequency blocks(called component carriers) are assigned to the same user. The maximumpossible data rate per user is increased the more frequency blocks areassigned to a user. The sum data rate of a cell is increased as wellbecause of a better resource utilization.

Dual connectivity (DC) was introduced in 3GPP to allow a user equipment(UE) to simultaneously transmit and receive data on multiple componentcarriers from two cell groups one providing E-UTRA access (4G) and theother one providing NR access (5G). One scheduler is located in themaster node and the other in the secondary node. The master node andsecondary node are connected via a network interface and at least themaster node is connected to the core network.

SUMMARY

An aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a method and apparatusfor early frequency reporting for fast carrier aggregation (CA) and/ordual connectivity (DC) setup.

Another aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a method andapparatus for reporting information on a neighbor frequency which can beaggregated with a serving frequency using one of 1) CA, 2) DC, or 3)both CA and DC.

In an aspect, a method for a wireless device in a wireless communicationsystem is provided. The method includes reporting, to a network,information informing that a neighbor frequency can be aggregated with aserving frequency using one of 1) carrier aggregation (CA), 2) dualconnectivity (DC), or 3) both CA and DC.

In another aspect, an apparatus for implementing the above method isprovided.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows an example of a communication system to whichimplementations of the present disclosure is applied.

FIG. 2 shows an example of wireless devices to which implementations ofthe present disclosure is applied.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a wireless device to which implementations ofthe present disclosure is applied.

FIG. 4 shows another example of wireless devices to whichimplementations of the present disclosure is applied.

FIG. 5 shows an example of UE to which implementations of the presentdisclosure is applied.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show an example of protocol stacks in a 3GPP basedwireless communication system to which implementations of the presentdisclosure is applied.

FIG. 8 shows a frame structure in a 3GPP based wireless communicationsystem to which implementations of the present disclosure is applied.

FIG. 9 shows a data flow example in the 3GPP NR system to whichimplementations of the present disclosure is applied.

FIG. 10 shows an example of EN-DC overall architecture to whichimplementations of the present disclosure is applied.

FIG. 11 shows an example of a control plane architecture for EN-DC towhich implementations of the present disclosure is applied.

FIG. 12 shows an example of a control plane architecture for MR-DC towhich implementations of the present disclosure is applied.

FIG. 13 shows an example of RRC connection release to whichimplementations of the present disclosure is applied.

FIG. 14 shows an example of RRC connection resume to whichimplementations of the present disclosure is applied.

FIG. 15 shows an example of UE capability transfer to whichimplementations of the present disclosure is applied.

FIG. 16 shows a method for a wireless device in a wireless communicationsystem to which implementations of the present disclosure is applied.

FIG. 17 shows an example of a RRC connection establishment procedure towhich implementations of the present disclosure is applied.

FIG. 18 shows an example of a RRC connection resume procedure to whichimplementations of the present disclosure is applied.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following techniques, apparatuses, and systems may be applied to avariety of wireless multiple access systems. Examples of the multipleaccess systems include a code division multiple access (CDMA) system, afrequency division multiple access (FDMA) system, a time divisionmultiple access (TDMA) system, an orthogonal frequency division multipleaccess (OFDMA) system, a single carrier frequency division multipleaccess (SC-FDMA) system, and a multicarrier frequency division multipleaccess (MC-FDMA) system. CDMA may be embodied through radio technologysuch as universal terrestrial radio access (UTRA) or CDMA2000. TDMA maybe embodied through radio technology such as global system for mobilecommunications (GSM), general packet radio service (GPRS), or enhanceddata rates for GSM evolution (EDGE). OFDMA may be embodied through radiotechnology such as institute of electrical and electronics engineers(IEEE) 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, or evolved UTRA(E-UTRA). UTRA is a part of a universal mobile telecommunications system(UMTS). 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) long term evolution(LTE) is a part of evolved UMTS (E-UMTS) using E-UTRA. 3GPP LTE employsOFDMA in DL and SC-FDMA in UL. LTE-advanced (LTE-A) is an evolvedversion of 3GPP LTE.

For convenience of description, implementations of the presentdisclosure are mainly described in regards to a 3GPP based wirelesscommunication system. However, the technical features of the presentdisclosure are not limited thereto. For example, although the followingdetailed description is given based on a mobile communication systemcorresponding to a 3GPP based wireless communication system, aspects ofthe present disclosure that are not limited to 3GPP based wirelesscommunication system are applicable to other mobile communicationsystems.

For terms and technologies which are not specifically described amongthe terms of and technologies employed in the present disclosure, thewireless communication standard documents published before the presentdisclosure may be referenced.

In the present disclosure, “A or B” may mean “only A”, “only B”, or“both A and B”. In other words, “A or B” in the present disclosure maybe interpreted as “A and/or B”. For example, “A, B or C” in the presentdisclosure may mean “only A”, “only B”, “only C”, or “any combination ofA, B and C”.

In the present disclosure, slash (/) or comma (,) may mean “and/or”. Forexample, “A/B” may mean “A and/or B”. Accordingly, “A/B” may mean “onlyA”, “only B”, or “both A and B”. For example, “A, B, C” may mean “A, Bor C”.

In the present disclosure, “at least one of A and B” may mean “only A”,“only B” or “both A and B”. In addition, the expression “at least one ofA or B” or “at least one of A and/or B” in the present disclosure may beinterpreted as same as “at least one of A and B”.

In addition, in the present disclosure, “at least one of A, B and C” maymean “only A”, “only B”, “only C”, or “any combination of A, B and C”.In addition, “at least one of A, B or C” or “at least one of A, B and/orC” may mean “at least one of A, B and C”.

Also, parentheses used in the present disclosure may mean “for example”.In detail, when it is shown as “control information (PDCCH)”, “PDCCH”may be proposed as an example of “control information”. In other words,“control information” in the present disclosure is not limited to“PDCCH”, and “PDDCH” may be proposed as an example of “controlinformation”. In addition, even when shown as “control information(i.e., PDCCH)”, “PDCCH” may be proposed as an example of “controlinformation”.

Technical features that are separately described in one drawing in thepresent disclosure may be implemented separately or simultaneously.

Although not limited thereto, various descriptions, functions,procedures, suggestions, methods and/or operational flowcharts of thepresent disclosure disclosed herein can be applied to various fieldsrequiring wireless communication and/or connection (e.g., 5G) betweendevices.

Hereinafter, the present disclosure will be described in more detailwith reference to drawings. The same reference numerals in the followingdrawings and/or descriptions may refer to the same and/or correspondinghardware blocks, software blocks, and/or functional blocks unlessotherwise indicated.

FIG. 1 shows an example of a communication system to whichimplementations of the present disclosure is applied.

The 5G usage scenarios shown in FIG. 1 are only exemplary, and thetechnical features of the present disclosure can be applied to other 5Gusage scenarios which are not shown in FIG. 1 .

Three main requirement categories for 5G include (1) a category ofenhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), (2) a category of massive machine typecommunication (mMTC), and (3) a category of ultra-reliable and lowlatency communications (URLLC).

Partial use cases may require a plurality of categories for optimizationand other use cases may focus only upon one key performance indicator(KPI). 5G supports such various use cases using a flexible and reliablemethod.

eMBB far surpasses basic mobile Internet access and covers abundantbidirectional work and media and entertainment applications in cloud andaugmented reality. Data is one of 5G core motive forces and, in a 5Gera, a dedicated voice service may not be provided for the first time.In 5G, it is expected that voice will be simply processed as anapplication program using data connection provided by a communicationsystem. Main causes for increased traffic volume are due to an increasein the size of content and an increase in the number of applicationsrequiring high data transmission rate. A streaming service (of audio andvideo), conversational video, and mobile Internet access will be morewidely used as more devices are connected to the Internet. These manyapplication programs require connectivity of an always turned-on statein order to push real-time information and alarm for users. Cloudstorage and applications are rapidly increasing in a mobilecommunication platform and may be applied to both work andentertainment. The cloud storage is a special use case which acceleratesgrowth of uplink data transmission rate. 5G is also used for remote workof cloud. When a tactile interface is used, 5G demands much lowerend-to-end latency to maintain user good experience. Entertainment, forexample, cloud gaming and video streaming, is another core element whichincreases demand for mobile broadband capability. Entertainment isessential for a smartphone and a tablet in any place including highmobility environments such as a train, a vehicle, and an airplane. Otheruse cases are augmented reality for entertainment and informationsearch. In this case, the augmented reality requires very low latencyand instantaneous data volume.

In addition, one of the most expected 5G use cases relates a functioncapable of smoothly connecting embedded sensors in all fields, i.e.,mMTC. It is expected that the number of potential Internet-of-things(IoT) devices will reach 204 hundred million up to the year of 2020. Anindustrial IoT is one of categories of performing a main role enabling asmart city, asset tracking, smart utility, agriculture, and securityinfrastructure through 5G.

URLLC includes a new service that will change industry through remotecontrol of main infrastructure and an ultra-reliable/availablelow-latency link such as a self-driving vehicle. A level of reliabilityand latency is essential to control a smart grid, automatize industry,achieve robotics, and control and adjust a drone.

5G is a means of providing streaming evaluated as a few hundred megabitsper second to gigabits per second and may complement fiber-to-the-home(FTTH) and cable-based broadband (or DOCSIS). Such fast speed is neededto deliver TV in resolution of 4K or more (6K, 8K, and more), as well asvirtual reality and augmented reality. Virtual reality (VR) andaugmented reality (AR) applications include almost immersive sportsgames. A specific application program may require a special networkconfiguration. For example, for VR games, gaming companies need toincorporate a core server into an edge network server of a networkoperator in order to minimize latency.

Automotive is expected to be a new important motivated force in 5Gtogether with many use cases for mobile communication for vehicles. Forexample, entertainment for passengers requires high simultaneouscapacity and mobile broadband with high mobility. This is because futureusers continue to expect connection of high quality regardless of theirlocations and speeds. Another use case of an automotive field is an ARdashboard. The AR dashboard causes a driver to identify an object in thedark in addition to an object seen from a front window and displays adistance from the object and a movement of the object by overlappinginformation talking to the driver. In the future, a wireless moduleenables communication between vehicles, information exchange between avehicle and supporting infrastructure, and information exchange betweena vehicle and other connected devices (e.g., devices accompanied by apedestrian). A safety system guides alternative courses of a behavior sothat a driver may drive more safely drive, thereby lowering the dangerof an accident. The next stage will be a remotely controlled orself-driven vehicle. This requires very high reliability and very fastcommunication between different self-driven vehicles and between avehicle and infrastructure. In the future, a self-driven vehicle willperform all driving activities and a driver will focus only uponabnormal traffic that the vehicle cannot identify. Technicalrequirements of a self-driven vehicle demand ultra-low latency andultra-high reliability so that traffic safety is increased to a levelthat cannot be achieved by human being.

A smart city and a smart home/building mentioned as a smart society willbe embedded in a high-density wireless sensor network. A distributednetwork of an intelligent sensor will identify conditions for costs andenergy-efficient maintenance of a city or a home. Similar configurationsmay be performed for respective households. All of temperature sensors,window and heating controllers, burglar alarms, and home appliances arewirelessly connected. Many of these sensors are typically low in datatransmission rate, power, and cost. However, real-time HD video may bedemanded by a specific type of device to perform monitoring.

Consumption and distribution of energy including heat or gas isdistributed at a higher level so that automated control of thedistribution sensor network is demanded. The smart grid collectsinformation and connects the sensors to each other using digitalinformation and communication technology so as to act according to thecollected information. Since this information may include behaviors of asupply company and a consumer, the smart grid may improve distributionof fuels such as electricity by a method having efficiency, reliability,economic feasibility, production sustainability, and automation. Thesmart grid may also be regarded as another sensor network having lowlatency.

Mission critical application (e.g., e-health) is one of 5G usescenarios. A health part contains many application programs capable ofenjoying benefit of mobile communication. A communication system maysupport remote treatment that provides clinical treatment in a farawayplace. Remote treatment may aid in reducing a barrier against distanceand improve access to medical services that cannot be continuouslyavailable in a faraway rural area. Remote treatment is also used toperform important treatment and save lives in an emergency situation.The wireless sensor network based on mobile communication may provideremote monitoring and sensors for parameters such as heart rate andblood pressure.

Wireless and mobile communication gradually becomes important in thefield of an industrial application. Wiring is high in installation andmaintenance cost. Therefore, a possibility of replacing a cable withreconstructable wireless links is an attractive opportunity in manyindustrial fields. However, in order to achieve this replacement, it isnecessary for wireless connection to be established with latency,reliability, and capacity similar to those of the cable and managementof wireless connection needs to be simplified. Low latency and a verylow error probability are new requirements when connection to 5G isneeded.

Logistics and freight tracking are important use cases for mobilecommunication that enables inventory and package tracking anywhere usinga location-based information system. The use cases of logistics andfreight typically demand low data rate but require location informationwith a wide range and reliability.

Referring to FIG. 1 , the communication system 1 includes wirelessdevices 100 a to 100 f, base stations (BSs) 200, and a network 300.Although FIG. 1 illustrates a 5G network as an example of the network ofthe communication system 1, the implementations of the presentdisclosure are not limited to the 5G system, and can be applied to thefuture communication system beyond the 5G system.

The BSs 200 and the network 300 may be implemented as wireless devicesand a specific wireless device may operate as a BS/network node withrespect to other wireless devices. The wireless devices 100 a to 100 frepresent devices performing communication using radio access technology(RAT) (e.g., 5G new RAT (NR)) or LTE) and may be referred to ascommunication/radio/5G devices. The wireless devices 100 a to 100 f mayinclude, without being limited to, a robot 100 a, vehicles 100 b-1 and100 b-2, an extended reality (XR) device 100 c, a hand-held device 100d, a home appliance 100 e, an IoT device 100 f, and an artificialintelligence (AI) device/server 400. For example, the vehicles mayinclude a vehicle having a wireless communication function, anautonomous driving vehicle, and a vehicle capable of performingcommunication between vehicles. The vehicles may include an unmannedaerial vehicle (UAV) (e.g., a drone). The XR device may include anAR/VR/Mixed Reality (MR) device and may be implemented in the form of ahead-mounted device (HMD), a head-up display (HUD) mounted in a vehicle,a television, a smartphone, a computer, a wearable device, a homeappliance device, a digital signage, a vehicle, a robot, etc. Thehand-held device may include a smartphone, a smartpad, a wearable device(e.g., a smartwatch or a smartglasses), and a computer (e.g., anotebook). The home appliance may include a TV, a refrigerator, and awashing machine. The IoT device may include a sensor and a smartmeter.

In the present disclosure, the wireless devices 100 a to 100 f may becalled user equipments (UEs). A UE may include, for example, a cellularphone, a smartphone, a laptop computer, a digital broadcast terminal, apersonal digital assistant (PDA), a portable multimedia player (PMP), anavigation system, a slate personal computer (PC), a tablet PC, anultrabook, a vehicle, a vehicle having an autonomous traveling function,a connected car, an UAV, an AI module, a robot, an AR device, a VRdevice, an MR device, a hologram device, a public safety device, an MTCdevice, an IoT device, a medical device, a FinTech device (or afinancial device), a security device, a weather/environment device, adevice related to a 5G service, or a device related to a fourthindustrial revolution field.

The UAV may be, for example, an aircraft aviated by a wireless controlsignal without a human being onboard.

The VR device may include, for example, a device for implementing anobject or a background of the virtual world. The AR device may include,for example, a device implemented by connecting an object or abackground of the virtual world to an object or a background of the realworld. The MR device may include, for example, a device implemented bymerging an object or a background of the virtual world into an object ora background of the real world. The hologram device may include, forexample, a device for implementing a stereoscopic image of 360 degreesby recording and reproducing stereoscopic information, using aninterference phenomenon of light generated when two laser lights calledholography meet.

The public safety device may include, for example, an image relay deviceor an image device that is wearable on the body of a user.

The MTC device and the IoT device may be, for example, devices that donot require direct human intervention or manipulation. For example, theMTC device and the IoT device may include smartmeters, vending machines,thermometers, smartbulbs, door locks, or various sensors.

The medical device may be, for example, a device used for the purpose ofdiagnosing, treating, relieving, curing, or preventing disease. Forexample, the medical device may be a device used for the purpose ofdiagnosing, treating, relieving, or correcting injury or impairment. Forexample, the medical device may be a device used for the purpose ofinspecting, replacing, or modifying a structure or a function. Forexample, the medical device may be a device used for the purpose ofadjusting pregnancy. For example, the medical device may include adevice for treatment, a device for operation, a device for (in vitro)diagnosis, a hearing aid, or a device for procedure.

The security device may be, for example, a device installed to prevent adanger that may arise and to maintain safety. For example, the securitydevice may be a camera, a closed-circuit TV (CCTV), a recorder, or ablack box.

The FinTech device may be, for example, a device capable of providing afinancial service such as mobile payment. For example, the FinTechdevice may include a payment device or a point of sales (POS) system.

The weather/environment device may include, for example, a device formonitoring or predicting a weather/environment.

The wireless devices 100 a to 100 f may be connected to the network 300via the B Ss 200. An AI technology may be applied to the wirelessdevices 100 a to 100 f and the wireless devices 100 a to 100 f may beconnected to the AI server 400 via the network 300. The network 300 maybe configured using a 3G network, a 4G (e.g., LTE) network, a 5G (e.g.,NR) network, and a beyond-5G network. Although the wireless devices 100a to 100 f may communicate with each other through the BSs 200/network300, the wireless devices 100 a to 100 f may perform directcommunication (e.g., sidelink communication) with each other withoutpassing through the BSs 200/network 300. For example, the vehicles 100b-1 and 100 b-2 may perform direct communication (e.g.,vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V)/vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication). TheIoT device (e.g., a sensor) may perform direct communication with otherIoT devices (e.g., sensors) or other wireless devices 100 a to 100 f.

Wireless communication/connections 150 a, 150 b and 150 c may beestablished between the wireless devices 100 a to 100 f and/or betweenwireless device 100 a to 100 f and BS 200 and/or between BSs 200.Herein, the wireless communication/connections may be establishedthrough various RATs (e.g., 5G NR) such as uplink/downlink communication150 a, sidelink communication (or device-to-device (D2D) communication)150 b, inter-base station communication 150 c (e.g., relay, integratedaccess and backhaul (IAB)), etc. The wireless devices 100 a to 100 f andthe BSs 200/the wireless devices 100 a to 100 f may transmit/receiveradio signals to/from each other through the wirelesscommunication/connections 150 a, 150 b and 150 c. For example, thewireless communication/connections 150 a, 150 b and 150 c maytransmit/receive signals through various physical channels. To this end,at least a part of various configuration information configuringprocesses, various signal processing processes (e.g., channelencoding/decoding, modulation/demodulation, and resourcemapping/de-mapping), and resource allocating processes, fortransmitting/receiving radio signals, may be performed based on thevarious proposals of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 shows an example of wireless devices to which implementations ofthe present disclosure is applied.

Referring to FIG. 2 , a first wireless device 100 and a second wirelessdevice 200 may transmit/receive radio signals to/from an external devicethrough a variety of RATs (e.g., LTE and NR). In FIG. 2 , {the firstwireless device 100 and the second wireless device 200} may correspondto at least one of {the wireless device 100 a to 100 f and the BS 200},{the wireless device 100 a to 100 f and the wireless device 100 a to 100f} and/or {the BS 200 and the BS 200} of FIG. 1 .

The first wireless device 100 may include one or more processors 102 andone or more memories 104 and additionally further include one or moretransceivers 106 and/or one or more antennas 108. The processor(s) 102may control the memory(s) 104 and/or the transceiver(s) 106 and may beconfigured to implement the descriptions, functions, procedures,suggestions, methods and/or operational flowcharts described in thepresent disclosure. For example, the processor(s) 102 may processinformation within the memory(s) 104 to generate firstinformation/signals and then transmit radio signals including the firstinformation/signals through the transceiver(s) 106. The processor(s) 102may receive radio signals including second information/signals throughthe transceiver(s) 106 and then store information obtained by processingthe second information/signals in the memory(s) 104. The memory(s) 104may be connected to the processor(s) 102 and may store a variety ofinformation related to operations of the processor(s) 102. For example,the memory(s) 104 may store software code including commands forperforming a part or the entirety of processes controlled by theprocessor(s) 102 or for performing the descriptions, functions,procedures, suggestions, methods and/or operational flowcharts describedin the present disclosure. Herein, the processor(s) 102 and thememory(s) 104 may be a part of a communication modem/circuit/chipdesigned to implement RAT (e.g., LTE or NR). The transceiver(s) 106 maybe connected to the processor(s) 102 and transmit and/or receive radiosignals through one or more antennas 108. Each of the transceiver(s) 106may include a transmitter and/or a receiver. The transceiver(s) 106 maybe interchangeably used with radio frequency (RF) unit(s). In thepresent disclosure, the first wireless device 100 may represent acommunication modem/circuit/chip.

The second wireless device 200 may include one or more processors 202and one or more memories 204 and additionally further include one ormore transceivers 206 and/or one or more antennas 208. The processor(s)202 may control the memory(s) 204 and/or the transceiver(s) 206 and maybe configured to implement the descriptions, functions, procedures,suggestions, methods and/or operational flowcharts described in thepresent disclosure. For example, the processor(s) 202 may processinformation within the memory(s) 204 to generate thirdinformation/signals and then transmit radio signals including the thirdinformation/signals through the transceiver(s) 206. The processor(s) 202may receive radio signals including fourth information/signals throughthe transceiver(s) 106 and then store information obtained by processingthe fourth information/signals in the memory(s) 204. The memory(s) 204may be connected to the processor(s) 202 and may store a variety ofinformation related to operations of the processor(s) 202. For example,the memory(s) 204 may store software code including commands forperforming a part or the entirety of processes controlled by theprocessor(s) 202 or for performing the descriptions, functions,procedures, suggestions, methods and/or operational flowcharts describedin the present disclosure. Herein, the processor(s) 202 and thememory(s) 204 may be a part of a communication modem/circuit/chipdesigned to implement RAT (e.g., LTE or NR). The transceiver(s) 206 maybe connected to the processor(s) 202 and transmit and/or receive radiosignals through one or more antennas 208. Each of the transceiver(s) 206may include a transmitter and/or a receiver. The transceiver(s) 206 maybe interchangeably used with RF unit(s). In the present disclosure, thesecond wireless device 200 may represent a communicationmodem/circuit/chip.

Hereinafter, hardware elements of the wireless devices 100 and 200 willbe described more specifically. One or more protocol layers may beimplemented by, without being limited to, one or more processors 102 and202. For example, the one or more processors 102 and 202 may implementone or more layers (e.g., functional layers such as physical (PHY)layer, media access control (MAC) layer, radio link control (RLC) layer,packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, radio resource control(RRC) layer, and service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer). The oneor more processors 102 and 202 may generate one or more protocol dataunits (PDUs) and/or one or more service data unit (SDUs) according tothe descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and/oroperational flowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure. The one ormore processors 102 and 202 may generate messages, control information,data, or information according to the descriptions, functions,procedures, suggestions, methods and/or operational flowcharts disclosedin the present disclosure. The one or more processors 102 and 202 maygenerate signals (e.g., baseband signals) including PDUs, SDUs,messages, control information, data, or information according to thedescriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and/oroperational flowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure and providethe generated signals to the one or more transceivers 106 and 206. Theone or more processors 102 and 202 may receive the signals (e.g.,baseband signals) from the one or more transceivers 106 and 206 andacquire the PDUs, SDUs, messages, control information, data, orinformation according to the descriptions, functions, procedures,suggestions, methods and/or operational flowcharts disclosed in thepresent disclosure.

The one or more processors 102 and 202 may be referred to ascontrollers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, or microcomputers. Theone or more processors 102 and 202 may be implemented by hardware,firmware, software, or a combination thereof. As an example, one or moreapplication specific integrated circuits (ASICs), one or more digitalsignal processors (DSPs), one or more digital signal processing devices(DSPDs), one or more programmable logic devices (PLDs), or one or morefield programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) may be included in the one ormore processors 102 and 202. descriptions, functions, procedures,suggestions, methods and/or operational flowcharts disclosed in thepresent disclosure may be implemented using firmware or software and thefirmware or software may be configured to include the modules,procedures, or functions. Firmware or software configured to perform thedescriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and/oroperational flowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure may beincluded in the one or more processors 102 and 202 or stored in the oneor more memories 104 and 204 so as to be driven by the one or moreprocessors 102 and 202. The descriptions, functions, procedures,suggestions, methods and/or operational flowcharts disclosed in thepresent disclosure may be implemented using firmware or software in theform of code, commands, and/or a set of commands.

The one or more memories 104 and 204 may be connected to the one or moreprocessors 102 and 202 and store various types of data, signals,messages, information, programs, code, instructions, and/or commands.The one or more memories 104 and 204 may be configured by read-onlymemories (ROMs), random access memories (RAMs), electrically erasableprogrammable read-only memories (EPROMs), flash memories, hard drives,registers, cash memories, computer-readable storage media, and/orcombinations thereof. The one or more memories 104 and 204 may belocated at the interior and/or exterior of the one or more processors102 and 202. The one or more memories 104 and 204 may be connected tothe one or more processors 102 and 202 through various technologies suchas wired or wireless connection.

The one or more transceivers 106 and 206 may transmit user data, controlinformation, and/or radio signals/channels, mentioned in thedescriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and/oroperational flowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure, to one ormore other devices. The one or more transceivers 106 and 206 may receiveuser data, control information, and/or radio signals/channels, mentionedin the descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and/oroperational flowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure, from one ormore other devices. For example, the one or more transceivers 106 and206 may be connected to the one or more processors 102 and 202 andtransmit and receive radio signals. For example, the one or moreprocessors 102 and 202 may perform control so that the one or moretransceivers 106 and 206 may transmit user data, control information, orradio signals to one or more other devices. The one or more processors102 and 202 may perform control so that the one or more transceivers 106and 206 may receive user data, control information, or radio signalsfrom one or more other devices.

The one or more transceivers 106 and 206 may be connected to the one ormore antennas 108 and 208 and the one or more transceivers 106 and 206may be configured to transmit and receive user data, controlinformation, and/or radio signals/channels, mentioned in thedescriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and/oroperational flowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure, through theone or more antennas 108 and 208. In the present disclosure, the one ormore antennas may be a plurality of physical antennas or a plurality oflogical antennas (e.g., antenna ports).

The one or more transceivers 106 and 206 may convert received radiosignals/channels, etc., from RF band signals into baseband signals inorder to process received user data, control information, radiosignals/channels, etc., using the one or more processors 102 and 202.The one or more transceivers 106 and 206 may convert the user data,control information, radio signals/channels, etc., processed using theone or more processors 102 and 202 from the base band signals into theRF band signals. To this end, the one or more transceivers 106 and 206may include (analog) oscillators and/or filters. For example, thetransceivers 106 and 206 can up-convert OFDM baseband signals to acarrier frequency by their (analog) oscillators and/or filters under thecontrol of the processors 102 and 202 and transmit the up-converted OFDMsignals at the carrier frequency. The transceivers 106 and 206 mayreceive OFDM signals at a carrier frequency and down-convert the OFDMsignals into OFDM baseband signals by their (analog) oscillators and/orfilters under the control of the transceivers 102 and 202.

In the implementations of the present disclosure, a UE may operate as atransmitting device in uplink (UL) and as a receiving device in downlink(DL). In the implementations of the present disclosure, a BS may operateas a receiving device in UL and as a transmitting device in DL.Hereinafter, for convenience of description, it is mainly assumed thatthe first wireless device 100 acts as the UE, and the second wirelessdevice 200 acts as the BS. For example, the processor(s) 102 connectedto, mounted on or launched in the first wireless device 100 may beconfigured to perform the UE behavior according to an implementation ofthe present disclosure or control the transceiver(s) 106 to perform theUE behavior according to an implementation of the present disclosure.The processor(s) 202 connected to, mounted on or launched in the secondwireless device 200 may be configured to perform the BS behavioraccording to an implementation of the present disclosure or control thetransceiver(s) 206 to perform the BS behavior according to animplementation of the present disclosure.

In the present disclosure, a BS is also referred to as a node B (NB), aneNode B (eNB), or a gNB.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a wireless device to which implementations ofthe present disclosure is applied.

The wireless device may be implemented in various forms according to ause-case/service (refer to FIG. 1 ).

Referring to FIG. 3 , wireless devices 100 and 200 may correspond to thewireless devices 100 and 200 of FIG. 2 and may be configured by variouselements, components, units/portions, and/or modules. For example, eachof the wireless devices 100 and 200 may include a communication unit110, a control unit 120, a memory unit 130, and additional components140. The communication unit 110 may include a communication circuit 112and transceiver(s) 114. For example, the communication circuit 112 mayinclude the one or more processors 102 and 202 of FIG. 2 and/or the oneor more memories 104 and 204 of FIG. 2 . For example, the transceiver(s)114 may include the one or more transceivers 106 and 206 of FIG. 2and/or the one or more antennas 108 and 208 of FIG. 2 . The control unit120 is electrically connected to the communication unit 110, the memory130, and the additional components 140 and controls overall operation ofeach of the wireless devices 100 and 200. For example, the control unit120 may control an electric/mechanical operation of each of the wirelessdevices 100 and 200 based on programs/code/commands/information storedin the memory unit 130. The control unit 120 may transmit theinformation stored in the memory unit 130 to the exterior (e.g., othercommunication devices) via the communication unit 110 through awireless/wired interface or store, in the memory unit 130, informationreceived through the wireless/wired interface from the exterior (e.g.,other communication devices) via the communication unit 110.

The additional components 140 may be variously configured according totypes of the wireless devices 100 and 200. For example, the additionalcomponents 140 may include at least one of a power unit/battery,input/output (I/O) unit (e.g., audio I/O port, video I/O port), adriving unit, and a computing unit. The wireless devices 100 and 200 maybe implemented in the form of, without being limited to, the robot (100a of FIG. 1 ), the vehicles (100 b-1 and 100 b-2 of FIG. 1 ), the XRdevice (100 c of FIG. 1 ), the hand-held device (100 d of FIG. 1 ), thehome appliance (100 e of FIG. 1 ), the IoT device (100 f of FIG. 1 ), adigital broadcast terminal, a hologram device, a public safety device,an MTC device, a medicine device, a FinTech device (or a financedevice), a security device, a climate/environment device, the AIserver/device (400 of FIG. 1 ), the BSs (200 of FIG. 1 ), a networknode, etc. The wireless devices 100 and 200 may be used in a mobile orfixed place according to a use-example/service.

In FIG. 3 , the entirety of the various elements, components,units/portions, and/or modules in the wireless devices 100 and 200 maybe connected to each other through a wired interface or at least a partthereof may be wirelessly connected through the communication unit 110.For example, in each of the wireless devices 100 and 200, the controlunit 120 and the communication unit 110 may be connected by wire and thecontrol unit 120 and first units (e.g., 130 and 140) may be wirelesslyconnected through the communication unit 110. Each element, component,unit/portion, and/or module within the wireless devices 100 and 200 mayfurther include one or more elements. For example, the control unit 120may be configured by a set of one or more processors. As an example, thecontrol unit 120 may be configured by a set of a communication controlprocessor, an application processor (AP), an electronic control unit(ECU), a graphical processing unit, and a memory control processor. Asanother example, the memory 130 may be configured by a RAM, a DRAM, aROM, a flash memory, a volatile memory, a non-volatile memory, and/or acombination thereof.

FIG. 4 shows another example of wireless devices to whichimplementations of the present disclosure is applied.

Referring to FIG. 4 , wireless devices 100 and 200 may correspond to thewireless devices 100 and 200 of FIG. 2 and may be configured by variouselements, components, units/portions, and/or modules.

The first wireless device 100 may include at least one transceiver, suchas a transceiver 106, and at least one processing chip, such as aprocessing chip 101. The processing chip 101 may include at least oneprocessor, such a processor 102, and at least one memory, such as amemory 104. The memory 104 may be operably connectable to the processor102. The memory 104 may store various types of information and/orinstructions. The memory 104 may store a software code 105 whichimplements instructions that, when executed by the processor 102,perform the descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methodsand/or operational flowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure. Forexample, the software code 105 may implement instructions that, whenexecuted by the processor 102, perform the descriptions, functions,procedures, suggestions, methods and/or operational flowcharts disclosedin the present disclosure. For example, the software code 105 maycontrol the processor 102 to perform one or more protocols. For example,the software code 105 may control the processor 102 may perform one ormore layers of the radio interface protocol.

The second wireless device 200 may include at least one transceiver,such as a transceiver 206, and at least one processing chip, such as aprocessing chip 201. The processing chip 201 may include at least oneprocessor, such a processor 202, and at least one memory, such as amemory 204. The memory 204 may be operably connectable to the processor202. The memory 204 may store various types of information and/orinstructions. The memory 204 may store a software code 205 whichimplements instructions that, when executed by the processor 202,perform the descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methodsand/or operational flowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure. Forexample, the software code 205 may implement instructions that, whenexecuted by the processor 202, perform the descriptions, functions,procedures, suggestions, methods and/or operational flowcharts disclosedin the present disclosure. For example, the software code 205 maycontrol the processor 202 to perform one or more protocols. For example,the software code 205 may control the processor 202 may perform one ormore layers of the radio interface protocol.

FIG. 5 shows an example of UE to which implementations of the presentdisclosure is applied.

Referring to FIG. 5 , a UE 100 may correspond to the first wirelessdevice 100 of FIG. 2 and/or the first wireless device 100 of FIG. 4 .

A UE 100 includes a processor 102, a memory 104, a transceiver 106, oneor more antennas 108, a power management module 110, a battery 1112, adisplay 114, a keypad 116, a subscriber identification module (SIM) card118, a speaker 120, and a microphone 122.

The processor 102 may be configured to implement the descriptions,functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and/or operationalflowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure. The processor 102 may beconfigured to control one or more other components of the UE 100 toimplement the descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methodsand/or operational flowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure.Layers of the radio interface protocol may be implemented in theprocessor 102. The processor 102 may include ASIC, other chipset, logiccircuit and/or data processing device. The processor 102 may be anapplication processor. The processor 102 may include at least one of adigital signal processor (DSP), a central processing unit (CPU), agraphics processing unit (GPU), a modem (modulator and demodulator). Anexample of the processor 102 may be found in SNAPDRAGON′ series ofprocessors made by Qualcomm®, EXYNOS™ series of processors made bySamsung®, A series of processors made by Apple®, HELIO™ series ofprocessors made by MediaTek®, ATOM™ series of processors made by Intel®or a corresponding next generation processor.

The memory 104 is operatively coupled with the processor 102 and storesa variety of information to operate the processor 102. The memory 104may include ROM, RAM, flash memory, memory card, storage medium and/orother storage device. When the embodiments are implemented in software,the techniques described herein can be implemented with modules (e.g.,procedures, functions, etc.) that perform the descriptions, functions,procedures, suggestions, methods and/or operational flowcharts disclosedin the present disclosure. The modules can be stored in the memory 104and executed by the processor 102. The memory 104 can be implementedwithin the processor 102 or external to the processor 102 in which casethose can be communicatively coupled to the processor 102 via variousmeans as is known in the art.

The transceiver 106 is operatively coupled with the processor 102, andtransmits and/or receives a radio signal. The transceiver 106 includes atransmitter and a receiver. The transceiver 106 may include basebandcircuitry to process radio frequency signals. The transceiver 106controls the one or more antennas 108 to transmit and/or receive a radiosignal.

The power management module 110 manages power for the processor 102and/or the transceiver 106. The battery 112 supplies power to the powermanagement module 110.

The display 114 outputs results processed by the processor 102. Thekeypad 116 receives inputs to be used by the processor 102. The keypad16 may be shown on the display 114.

The SIM card 118 is an integrated circuit that is intended to securelystore the international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) number and itsrelated key, which are used to identify and authenticate subscribers onmobile telephony devices (such as mobile phones and computers). It isalso possible to store contact information on many SIM cards.

The speaker 120 outputs sound-related results processed by the processor102. The microphone 122 receives sound-related inputs to be used by theprocessor 102.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show an example of protocol stacks in a 3GPP basedwireless communication system to which implementations of the presentdisclosure is applied.

In particular, FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a radio interface userplane protocol stack between a UE and a BS and FIG. 7 illustrates anexample of a radio interface control plane protocol stack between a UEand a BS. The control plane refers to a path through which controlmessages used to manage call by a UE and a network are transported. Theuser plane refers to a path through which data generated in anapplication layer, for example, voice data or Internet packet data aretransported. Referring to FIG. 6 , the user plane protocol stack may bedivided into Layer 1 (i.e., a PHY layer) and Layer 2. Referring to FIG.7 , the control plane protocol stack may be divided into Layer 1 (i.e.,a PHY layer), Layer 2, Layer 3 (e.g., an RRC layer), and a non-accessstratum (NAS) layer. Layer 1, Layer 2 and Layer 3 are referred to as anaccess stratum (AS).

In the 3GPP LTE system, the Layer 2 is split into the followingsublayers: MAC, RLC, and PDCP. In the 3GPP NR system, the Layer 2 issplit into the following sublayers: MAC, RLC, PDCP and SDAP. The PHYlayer offers to the MAC sublayer transport channels, the MAC sublayeroffers to the RLC sublayer logical channels, the RLC sublayer offers tothe PDCP sublayer RLC channels, the PDCP sublayer offers to the SDAPsublayer radio bearers. The SDAP sublayer offers to 5G core networkquality of service (QoS) flows.

In the 3GPP NR system, the main services and functions of the MACsublayer include: mapping between logical channels and transportchannels; multiplexing/de-multiplexing of MAC SDUs belonging to one ordifferent logical channels into/from transport blocks (TB) deliveredto/from the physical layer on transport channels; scheduling informationreporting; error correction through hybrid automatic repeat request(HARQ) (one HARQ entity per cell in case of carrier aggregation (CA));priority handling between UEs by means of dynamic scheduling; priorityhandling between logical channels of one UE by means of logical channelprioritization; padding. A single MAC entity may support multiplenumerologies, transmission timings and cells. Mapping restrictions inlogical channel prioritization control which numerology(ies), cell(s),and transmission timing(s) a logical channel can use.

Different kinds of data transfer services are offered by MAC. Toaccommodate different kinds of data transfer services, multiple types oflogical channels are defined, i.e., each supporting transfer of aparticular type of information. Each logical channel type is defined bywhat type of information is transferred. Logical channels are classifiedinto two groups: control channels and traffic channels. Control channelsare used for the transfer of control plane information only, and trafficchannels are used for the transfer of user plane information only.Broadcast control channel (BCCH) is a downlink logical channel forbroadcasting system control information, paging control channel (PCCH)is a downlink logical channel that transfers paging information, systeminformation change notifications and indications of ongoing publicwarning service (PWS) broadcasts, common control channel (CCCH) is alogical channel for transmitting control information between UEs andnetwork and used for UEs having no RRC connection with the network, anddedicated control channel (DCCH) is a point-to-point bi-directionallogical channel that transmits dedicated control information between aUE and the network and used by UEs having an RRC connection. Dedicatedtraffic channel (DTCH) is a point-to-point logical channel, dedicated toone UE, for the transfer of user information. A DTCH can exist in bothuplink and downlink. In downlink, the following connections betweenlogical channels and transport channels exist: BCCH can be mapped tobroadcast channel (BCH); BCCH can be mapped to downlink shared channel(DL-SCH); PCCH can be mapped to paging channel (PCH); CCCH can be mappedto DL-SCH; DCCH can be mapped to DL-SCH; and DTCH can be mapped toDL-SCH. In uplink, the following connections between logical channelsand transport channels exist: CCCH can be mapped to uplink sharedchannel (UL-SCH); DCCH can be mapped to UL-SCH; and DTCH can be mappedto UL-SCH.

The RLC sublayer supports three transmission modes: transparent mode(TM), unacknowledged mode (UM), and acknowledged node (AM). The RLCconfiguration is per logical channel with no dependency on numerologiesand/or transmission durations. In the 3GPP NR system, the main servicesand functions of the RLC sublayer depend on the transmission mode andinclude: transfer of upper layer PDUs; sequence numbering independent ofthe one in PDCP (UM and AM); error correction through ARQ (AM only);segmentation (AM and UM) and re-segmentation (AM only) of RLC SDUs;reassembly of SDU (AM and UM); duplicate detection (AM only); RLC SDUdiscard (AM and UM); RLC re-establishment; protocol error detection (AMonly).

In the 3GPP NR system, the main services and functions of the PDCPsublayer for the user plane include: sequence numbering; headercompression and decompression using robust header compression (ROHC);transfer of user data; reordering and duplicate detection; in-orderdelivery; PDCP PDU routing (in case of split bearers); retransmission ofPDCP SDUs; ciphering, deciphering and integrity protection; PDCP SDUdiscard; PDCP re-establishment and data recovery for RLC AM; PDCP statusreporting for RLC AM; duplication of PDCP PDUs and duplicate discardindication to lower layers. The main services and functions of the PDCPsublayer for the control plane include: sequence numbering; ciphering,deciphering and integrity protection; transfer of control plane data;reordering and duplicate detection; in-order delivery; duplication ofPDCP PDUs and duplicate discard indication to lower layers.

In the 3GPP NR system, the main services and functions of SDAP include:mapping between a QoS flow and a data radio bearer; marking QoS flow ID(QFI) in both DL and UL packets. A single protocol entity of SDAP isconfigured for each individual PDU session.

In the 3GPP NR system, the main services and functions of the RRCsublayer include: broadcast of system information related to AS and NAS;paging initiated by 5GC or NG-RAN; establishment, maintenance andrelease of an RRC connection between the UE and NG-RAN; securityfunctions including key management; establishment, configuration,maintenance and release of signaling radio bearers (SRBs) and data radiobearers (DRBs); mobility functions (including: handover and contexttransfer, UE cell selection and reselection and control of cellselection and reselection, inter-RAT mobility); QoS managementfunctions; UE measurement reporting and control of the reporting;detection of and recovery from radio link failure; NAS message transferto/from NAS from/to UE.

FIG. 8 shows a frame structure in a 3GPP based wireless communicationsystem to which implementations of the present disclosure is applied.

The frame structure shown in FIG. 8 is purely exemplary and the numberof subframes, the number of slots, and/or the number of symbols in aframe may be variously changed. In the 3GPP based wireless communicationsystem, OFDM numerologies (e.g., subcarrier spacing (SCS), transmissiontime interval (TTI) duration) may be differently configured between aplurality of cells aggregated for one UE. For example, if a UE isconfigured with different SCSs for cells aggregated for the cell, an(absolute time) duration of a time resource (e.g., a subframe, a slot,or a TTI) including the same number of symbols may be different amongthe aggregated cells. Herein, symbols may include OFDM symbols (orCP-OFDM symbols), SC-FDMA symbols (or discrete Fouriertransform-spread-OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) symbols).

Referring to FIG. 8 , downlink and uplink transmissions are organizedinto frames. Each frame has T_(f)=10 ms duration. Each frame is dividedinto two half-frames, where each of the half-frames has 5 ms duration.Each half-frame consists of 5 subframes, where the duration T_(sf) persubframe is 1 ms. Each subframe is divided into slots and the number ofslots in a subframe depends on a subcarrier spacing. Each slot includes14 or 12 OFDM symbols based on a cyclic prefix (CP). In a normal CP,each slot includes 14 OFDM symbols and, in an extended CP, each slotincludes 12 OFDM symbols. The numerology is based on exponentiallyscalable subcarrier spacing Δf=2^(u)*15 kHz.

Table 1 shows the number of OFDM symbols per slot N^(slot) _(symb), thenumber of slots per frame N^(frame,u) _(slot), and the number of slotsper subframe N^(subframe,u) _(slot) for the normal CP, according to thesubcarrier spacing Δf=2^(u)*15 kHz.

TABLE 1 u N^(slot) _(symb) N^(frame, u) _(slot) N^(subframe, u) _(slot)0 14 10 1 1 14 20 2 2 14 40 4 3 14 80 8 4 14 160 16

Table 2 shows the number of OFDM symbols per slot N^(slot) _(symb), thenumber of slots per frame N^(frame,u) _(slot), and the number of slotsper subframe N^(subframe,u) _(slot) for the extended CP, according tothe subcarrier spacing Δf=2^(u)*15 kHz.

TABLE 2 u N^(slot) _(symb) N^(frame, u) _(slot) N^(subframe, u) _(slot)2 12 40 4

A slot includes plural symbols (e.g., 14 or 12 symbols) in the timedomain. For each numerology (e.g., subcarrier spacing) and carrier, aresource grid of N^(size,u) _(grid,x)*N^(RB) _(sc) subcarriers andN^(subframe,u) _(symb) OFDM symbols is defined, starting at commonresource block (CRB) N^(start,u) _(grid) indicated by higher-layersignaling (e.g., RRC signaling), where N^(size,u) _(grid,x) is thenumber of resource blocks (RBs) in the resource grid and the subscript xis DL for downlink and UL for uplink. N^(RB) _(sc) is the number ofsubcarriers per RB. In the 3GPP based wireless communication system,N^(RB) _(sc) is 12 generally. There is one resource grid for a givenantenna port p, subcarrier spacing configuration u, and transmissiondirection (DL or UL). The carrier bandwidth N^(size,u) _(grid) forsubcarrier spacing configuration u is given by the higher-layerparameter (e.g., RRC parameter). Each element in the resource grid forthe antenna port p and the subcarrier spacing configuration u isreferred to as a resource element (RE) and one complex symbol may bemapped to each RE. Each RE in the resource grid is uniquely identifiedby an index k in the frequency domain and an index 1 representing asymbol location relative to a reference point in the time domain. In the3GPP based wireless communication system, an RB is defined by 12consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain.

In the 3GPP NR system, RBs are classified into CRBs and physicalresource blocks (PRBs). CRBs are numbered from 0 and upwards in thefrequency domain for subcarrier spacing configuration u. The center ofsubcarrier 0 of CRB 0 for subcarrier spacing configuration u coincideswith ‘point A’ which serves as a common reference point for resourceblock grids. In the 3GPP NR system, PRBs are defined within a bandwidthpart (BWP) and numbered from 0 to N^(size) _(BWP,i)−1, where i is thenumber of the bandwidth part. The relation between the physical resourceblock n_(PRB) in the bandwidth part i and the common resource blockn_(CRB) is as follows: n_(PRB)=n_(CRB)+N^(size) _(BWP,i), where N^(size)_(BWP,i) is the common resource block where bandwidth part startsrelative to CRB 0. The BWP includes a plurality of consecutive RBs. Acarrier may include a maximum of N (e.g., 5) BWPs. A UE may beconfigured with one or more BWPs on a given component carrier. Only oneBWP among BWPs configured to the UE can active at a time. The active BWPdefines the UE's operating bandwidth within the cell's operatingbandwidth.

The NR frequency band may be defined as two types of frequency range,i.e., FR1 and FR2. The numerical value of the frequency range may bechanged. For example, the frequency ranges of the two types (FR1 andFR2) may be as shown in Table 3 below. For ease of explanation, in thefrequency ranges used in the NR system, FR1 may mean “sub 6 GHz range”,FR2 may mean “above 6 GHz range,” and may be referred to as millimeterwave (mmW).

TABLE 3 Frequency Range Corresponding frequency Subcarrier designationrange Spacing FR1  450 MHz-6000 MHz 15, 30, 60 kHz FR2 24250 MHz-52600MHz 60, 120, 240 kHz

As mentioned above, the numerical value of the frequency range of the NRsystem may be changed. For example, FR1 may include a frequency band of410 MHz to 7125 MHz as shown in Table 4 below. That is, FR1 may includea frequency band of 6 GHz (or 5850, 5900, 5925 MHz, etc.) or more. Forexample, a frequency band of 6 GHz (or 5850, 5900, 5925 MHz, etc.) ormore included in FR1 may include an unlicensed band. Unlicensed bandsmay be used for a variety of purposes, for example for communication forvehicles (e.g., autonomous driving).

TABLE 4 Frequency Range Corresponding frequency Subcarrier designationrange Spacing FR1  410 MHz-7125 MHz 15, 30, 60 kHz FR2 24250 MHz-52600MHz 60, 120, 240 kHz

In the present disclosure, the term “cell” may refer to a geographicarea to which one or more nodes provide a communication system, or referto radio resources. A “cell” as a geographic area may be understood ascoverage within which a node can provide service using a carrier and a“cell” as radio resources (e.g., time-frequency resources) is associatedwith bandwidth which is a frequency range configured by the carrier. The“cell” associated with the radio resources is defined by a combinationof downlink resources and uplink resources, for example, a combinationof a DL component carrier (CC) and a UL CC. The cell may be configuredby downlink resources only, or may be configured by downlink resourcesand uplink resources. Since DL coverage, which is a range within whichthe node is capable of transmitting a valid signal, and UL coverage,which is a range within which the node is capable of receiving the validsignal from the UE, depends upon a carrier carrying the signal, thecoverage of the node may be associated with coverage of the “cell” ofradio resources used by the node. Accordingly, the term “cell” may beused to represent service coverage of the node sometimes, radioresources at other times, or a range that signals using the radioresources can reach with valid strength at other times.

In CA, two or more CCs are aggregated. A UE may simultaneously receiveor transmit on one or multiple CCs depending on its capabilities. CA issupported for both contiguous and non-contiguous CCs. When CA isconfigured, the UE only has one RRC connection with the network. At RRCconnection establishment/re-establishment/handover, one serving cellprovides the NAS mobility information, and at RRC connectionre-establishment/handover, one serving cell provides the security input.This cell is referred to as the primary cell (PCell). The PCell is acell, operating on the primary frequency, in which the UE eitherperforms the initial connection establishment procedure or initiates theconnection re-establishment procedure. Depending on UE capabilities,secondary cells (SCells) can be configured to form together with thePCell a set of serving cells. An SCell is a cell providing additionalradio resources on top of special cell (SpCell). The configured set ofserving cells for a UE therefore always consists of one PCell and one ormore SCells. For dual connectivity (DC) operation, the term SpCellrefers to the PCell of the master cell group (MCG) or the primary SCell(PSCell) of the secondary cell group (SCG). An SpCell supports PUCCHtransmission and contention-based random access, and is alwaysactivated. The MCG is a group of serving cells associated with a masternode, comprised of the SpCell (PCell) and optionally one or more SCells.The SCG is the subset of serving cells associated with a secondary node,comprised of the PSCell and zero or more SCells, for a UE configuredwith DC. For a UE in RRC_CONNECTED not configured with CA/DC, there isonly one serving cell comprised of the PCell. For a UE in RRC_CONNECTEDconfigured with CA/DC, the term “serving cells” is used to denote theset of cells comprised of the SpCell(s) and all SCells. In DC, two MACentities are configured in a UE: one for the MCG and one for the SCG.

FIG. 9 shows a data flow example in the 3GPP NR system to whichimplementations of the present disclosure is applied.

Referring to FIG. 9 , “RB” denotes a radio bearer, and “H” denotes aheader. Radio bearers are categorized into two groups: DRBs for userplane data and SRBs for control plane data. The MAC PDU istransmitted/received using radio resources through the PHY layer to/froman external device. The MAC PDU arrives to the PHY layer in the form ofa transport block.

In the PHY layer, the uplink transport channels UL-SCH and RACH aremapped to their physical channels physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH)and physical random access channel (PRACH), respectively, and thedownlink transport channels DL-SCH, BCH and PCH are mapped to physicaldownlink shared channel (PDSCH), physical broadcast channel (PBCH) andPDSCH, respectively. In the PHY layer, uplink control information (UCI)is mapped to physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), and downlinkcontrol information (DCI) is mapped to physical downlink control channel(PDCCH). A MAC PDU related to UL-SCH is transmitted by a UE via a PUSCHbased on an UL grant, and a MAC PDU related to DL-SCH is transmitted bya BS via a PDSCH based on a DL assignment.

Multi-radio dual connectivity (MR-DC) is described. Section 4 of 3GPP TS37.340 V15.5.0 (2019-03) can be referred.

In MR-DC, the following definitions may be used.

-   -   en-gNB: node providing NR user plane and control plane protocol        terminations towards the UE, and acting as secondary node in        EN-DC.    -   Master cell group (MCG): in MR-DC, a group of serving cells        associated with the master node, comprising of the SpCell        (PCell) and optionally one or more SCells.    -   Master node (MN): in MR-DC, the radio access node that provides        the control plane connection to the core network. It may be a        master eNB (in EN-DC), a master ng-eNB (in NGEN-DC) or a master        gNB (in NR-DC and NE-DC).    -   MCG bearer: in MR-DC, a radio bearer with an RLC bearer (or two        RLC bearers, in case of CA packet duplication) only in the MCG.    -   MN terminated bearer: in MR-DC, a radio bearer for which PDCP is        located in the MN.    -   MCG SRB: in MR-DC, a direct SRB between the MN and the UE.    -   Multi-radio dual connectivity (MR-DC): Dual connectivity between        E-UTRA and NR nodes, or between two NR nodes.    -   Ng-eNB: node providing E-UTRA user plane and control plane        protocol terminations towards the UE, and connected via the NG        interface to the 5GC.    -   PCell: SpCell of a master cell group.    -   PSCell: SpCell of a secondary cell group.    -   RLC bearer: RLC and MAC logical channel configuration of a radio        bearer in one cell group.    -   Secondary cell group (SCG): in MR-DC, a group of serving cells        associated with the Secondary Node, comprising of the SpCell        (PSCell) and optionally one or more SCells.    -   Secondary node (SN): in MR-DC, the radio access node, with no        control plane connection to the core network, providing        additional resources to the UE. It may be an en-gNB (in EN-DC),        a Secondary ng-eNB (in NE-DC) or a Secondary gNB (in NR-DC and        NGEN-DC).    -   SCG bearer: in MR-DC, a radio bearer with an RLC bearer (or two        RLC bearers, in case of CA packet duplication) only in the SCG.    -   SN terminated bearer: in MR-DC, a radio bearer for which PDCP is        located in the SN.    -   SpCell: primary cell of a master or secondary cell group.    -   Split bearer: in MR-DC, a radio bearer with RLC bearers both in        MCG and SCG.    -   Split SRB: in MR-DC, a SRB between the MN and the UE with RLC        bearers both in MCG and SCG.

MR-DC is a generalization of the intra-E-UTRA DC, where a multiple Rx/TxUE may be configured to utilize resources provided by two differentnodes connected via non-ideal backhaul, one providing NR access and theother one providing either E-UTRA or NR access. One node acts as the MNand the other as the SN. The MN and SN are connected via a networkinterface and at least the MN is connected to the core network.

MR-DC is designed based on the assumption of non-ideal backhaul betweenthe different nodes but can also be used in case of ideal backhaul.

FIG. 10 shows an example of EN-DC overall architecture to whichimplementations of the present disclosure is applied.

E-UTRAN supports MR-DC via E-UTRA-NR dual connectivity (EN-DC), in whicha UE is connected to one eNB that acts as a MN and one en-gNB that actsas a SN. The eNB is connected to the EPC via the S1 interface and to theen-gNB via the X2 interface. The en-gNB might also be connected to theEPC via the S1-U interface and other en-gNBs via the X2-U interface.

NG-RAN supports NG-RAN E-UTRA-NR dual connectivity (NGEN-DC), in which aUE is connected to one ng-eNB that acts as a MN and one gNB that acts asa SN. The ng-eNB is connected to the 5GC and the gNB is connected to theng-eNB via the Xn interface.

NG-RAN supports NR-E-UTRA dual connectivity (NE-DC), in which a UE isconnected to one gNB that acts as a MN and one ng-eNB that acts as a SN.The gNB is connected to 5GC and the ng-eNB is connected to the gNB viathe Xn interface.

NG-RAN supports NR-NR dual connectivity (NR-DC), in which a UE isconnected to one gNB that acts as a MN and another gNB that acts as aSN. The master gNB is connected to the 5GC via the NG interface and tothe secondary gNB via the Xn interface. The secondary gNB might also beconnected to the 5GC via the NG-U interface. In addition, NR-DC can alsobe used when a UE is connected to two gNB-DUs, one serving the MCG andthe other serving the SCG, connected to the same gNB-CU, acting both asa MN and as a SN.

FIG. 11 shows an example of a control plane architecture for EN-DC towhich implementations of the present disclosure is applied. FIG. 12shows an example of a control plane architecture for MR-DC to whichimplementations of the present disclosure is applied.

In MR-DC, the UE has a single RRC state, based on the MN RRC and asingle C-plane connection towards the core network. Referring to FIGS.11 and 12 , each radio node has its own RRC entity (E-UTRA version ifthe node is an eNB or NR version if the node is a gNB) which cangenerate RRC PDUs to be sent to the UE.

RRC PDUs generated by the SN can be transported via the MN to the UE.The MN always sends the initial SN RRC configuration via MCG SRB (SRB1),but subsequent reconfigurations may be transported via MN or SN. Whentransporting RRC PDU from the SN, the MN does not modify the UEconfiguration provided by the SN.

In E-UTRA connected to EPC, at initial connection establishment SRB1uses E-UTRA PDCP. If the UE supports EN-DC, regardless whether EN-DC isconfigured or not, after initial connection establishment, MCG SRBs(SRB1 and SRB2) can be configured by the network to use either E-UTRAPDCP or NR PDCP (either SRB1 and SRB2 are both configured with E-UTRAPDCP, or they are both configured with NR PDCP). Change from E-UTRA PDCPto NR PDCP (or vice-versa) is supported via a handover procedure(reconfiguration with mobility) or, for the initial change of SRB1 fromE-UTRA PDCP to NR PDCP, with a reconfiguration without mobility beforethe initial security activation.

If the SN is a gNB (i.e., for EN-DC, NGEN-DC and NR-DC), the UE can beconfigured to establish a SRB with the SN (SRB3) to enable RRC PDUs forthe SN to be sent directly between the UE and the SN. RRC PDUs for theSN can only be transported directly to the UE for SN RRC reconfigurationnot requiring any coordination with the MN. Measurement reporting formobility within the SN can be done directly from the UE to the SN ifSRB3 is configured.

Split SRB is supported for all MR-DC options, allowing duplication ofRRC PDUs generated by the MN, via the direct path and via the SN. SplitSRB uses NR PDCP.

In EN-DC, the SCG configuration is kept in the UE during suspension. TheUE releases the SCG configuration (but not the radio bearerconfiguration) during resumption initiation.

In MR-DC with 5GC, the UE stores the PDCP/SDAP configuration when movingto RRC Inactive but it releases the SCG configuration.

In MR-DC, from a UE perspective, three bearer types exist: MCG bearer,SCG bearer and split bearer.

For EN-DC, the network can configure either E-UTRA PDCP or NR PDCP forMN terminated MCG bearers while NR PDCP is always used for all otherbearers.

In MR-DC with 5GC, NR PDCP is always used for all bearer types. InNGEN-DC, E-UTRA RLC/MAC is used in the MN while NR RLC/MAC is used inthe SN. In NE-DC, NR RLC/MAC is used in the MN while E-UTRA RLC/MAC isused in the SN. In NR-DC, NR RLC/MAC is used in both MN and SN.

From a network perspective, each bearer (MCG, SCG and split bearer) canbe terminated either in MN or in SN.

Even if only SCG bearers are configured for a UE, for SRB1 and SRB2 thelogical channels are always configured at least in the MCG, i.e., thisis still an MR-DC configuration and a PCell always exists.

If only MCG bearers are configured for a UE, i.e., there is no SCG, thisis still considered an MR-DC configuration, as long as at least one ofthe bearers is terminated in the SN.

In MR-DC, there is an interface between the MN and the SN for controlplane signaling and coordination. For each MR-DC UE, there is also onecontrol plane connection between the MN and a corresponding core networkentity. The MN and the SN involved in MR-DC for a certain UE controltheir radio resources and are primarily responsible for allocating radioresources of their cells.

In MR-DC with EPC (EN-DC), the involved core network entity is themobility management entity (MME). S1-MME is terminated in MN and the MNand the SN are interconnected via X2-C.

In MR-DC with 5GC (NGEN-DC, NE-DC and NR-DC), the involved core networkentity is the access and mobility management function (AMF). NG-C isterminated in the MN and the MN and the SN are interconnected via Xn-C.

There are different U-plane connectivity options of the MN and SNinvolved in MR-DC for a certain UE. The U-plane connectivity depends onthe bearer option configured:

-   -   For MN terminated bearers, the user plane connection to the CN        entity is terminated in the MN;    -   For SN terminated bearers, the user plane connection to the CN        entity is terminated in the SN;    -   The transport of user plane data over the Uu either involves MCG        or SCG radio resources or both:        -   For MCG bearers, only MCG radio resources are involved;        -   For SCG bearers, only SCG radio resources are involved;        -   For split bearers, both MCG and SCG radio resources are            involved.    -   For split bearers, MN terminated SCG bearers and SN terminated        MCG bearers, PDCP data is transferred between the MN and the SN        via the MN-SN user plane interface.

For MR-DC with EPC (EN-DC), X2-U interface is the user plane interfacebetween MN and SN, and S1-U is the user plane interface between the MN,the SN or both and the serving gateway (S-GW).

For MR-DC with 5GC (NGEN-DC, NE-DC and inter-gNB NR-DC), Xn-U interfaceis the user plane interface between MN and SN, and NG-U is the userplane interface between the MN, the SN or both and the user planefunction (UPF).

RRC connection release is described. Section 5.3.8 of 3GPP TS 38.331V15.5.0 can be referred.

The purpose of this procedure is:

-   -   to release the RRC connection, which includes the release of the        established radio bearers as well as all radio resources; or    -   to suspend the RRC connection only if SRB2 and at least one DRB        are setup, which includes the suspension of the established        radio bearers.

FIG. 13 shows an example of RRC connection release to whichimplementations of the present disclosure is applied.

In step S1300, the network initiates the RRC connection releaseprocedure to transit a UE in RRC_CONNECTED to RRC_IDLE, or to transit aUE in RRC_CONNECTED to RRC_INACTIVE only if SRB2 and at least one DRB issetup in RRC_CONNECTED, or to transit a UE in RRC_INACTIVE back toRRC_INACTIVE when the UE tries to resume, or to transit a UE inRRC_INACTIVE to RRC_IDLE when the UE tries to resume. The procedure canalso be used to release and redirect a UE to another frequency.

Upon reception of the RRCRelease by the UE, the UE shall:

1> delay the following actions defined in below 60 ms from the momentthe RRCRelease message was received or optionally when lower layersindicate that the receipt of the RRCRelease message has beensuccessfully acknowledged, whichever is earlier;

1> stop timer T380, if running;

1> stop timer T320, if running;

1> if T390 is running:

2> stop timer T390 for all access categories;

1> if the AS security is not activated, perform the actions upon goingto RRC_IDLE with the release cause ‘other’ upon which the procedureends;

1> if the RRCRelease message includes redirectedCarrierInfo indicatingredirection to eutra:

2> if cnType is included:

3> after the cell selection, indicate the available CN Type(s) and thereceived cnType to upper layers;

1> if the RRCRelease message includes the cellReselectionPriorities:

2> store the cell reselection priority information provided by thecellReselectionPriorities;

2> if the t320 is included:

3> start timer T320, with the timer value set according to the value oft320;

1> else:

2> apply the cell reselection priority information broadcast in thesystem information;

1> if deprioritisationReq is included:

2> start or restart timer T325 with the timer value set to thedeprioritisationTimer signalled;

2> store the deprioritisationReq until T325 expiry;

1> if the RRCRelease includes suspendConfig:

2> apply the received suspendConfig;

2> reset MAC and release the default MAC cell group configuration, ifany;

2> re-establish RLC entities for SRB1;

2> if the RRCRelease message with suspendConfig was received in responseto an RRCResumeRequest or an RRCResumeRequest1:

3> stop the timer T319 if running;

3> in the stored UE Inactive AS context:

4> replace the K_(gNB) and K_(RRCint) keys with the current K_(gNB) andK_(RRCint) keys;

4> replace the cell radio network temporary identity (C-RNTI) with thetemporary C-RNTI in the cell the UE has received the RRCRelease message;

4> replace the cellIdentity with the cellIdentity of the cell the UE hasreceived the RRCRelease message;

4> replace the physical cell identity with the physical cell identity ofthe cell the UE has received the RRCRelease message;

4> replace the suspendConfig with the current suspendConfig;

2> else:

3> store in the UE Inactive AS context the configured suspendConfig, thecurrent K_(gNB) and K_(RRCint) keys, the robust header compression(ROHC) state, the C-RNTI used in the source PCell, the cellIdentity andthe physical cell identity of the source PCell, and all other parametersconfigured except with ReconfigurationWithSync;

2> suspend all SRB(s) and DRB(s), except SRB0;

2> indicate PDCP suspend to lower layers of all DRBs;

2> if the t380 is included:

3> start timer T380, with the timer value set to t380;

2> if the RRCRelease message is including the waitTime:

3> start timer T302 with the value set to the waitTime;

3> inform the upper layer that access barring is applicable for allaccess categories except categories ‘0’ and ‘2’;

2> indicate the suspension of the RRC connection to upper layers;

2> enter RRC_INACTIVE and perform cell selection;

1> else

2> perform the actions upon going to RRC_IDLE, with the release cause‘other’.

RRC connection resume is described. Section 5.3.13 of 3GPP TS 38.331V15.5.0 can be referred.

The purpose of this procedure is to resume a suspended RRC connection,including resuming SRB(s) and DRB(s) or perform an RAN basednotification area (RNA) update.

FIG. 14 shows an example of RRC connection resume to whichimplementations of the present disclosure is applied.

In step S1400, the UE transmits RRCResumeRequest or RRCResumeRequest1message to the network. In step S1410, the UE receives RRCResume messagefrom the network. In step S1420, the UE transmits RRCResumeCompletemessage to the network.

The UE initiates the procedure when upper layers or AS (when respondingto RAN paging or upon triggering RNA updates while the UE is inRRC_INACTIVE) requests the resume of a suspended RRC connection.

The UE shall ensure having valid and up to date essential systeminformation before initiating this procedure.

Upon initiation of the procedure, the UE shall:

1> if the resumption of the RRC connection is triggered by response toNG-RAN paging:

2> select ‘0’ as the access category;

2> perform the unified access control procedure using the selectedaccess category and one or more Access Identities provided by upperlayers;

3> if the access attempt is barred, the procedure ends;

1> else if the upper layers provide an access category and one or moreaccess identities upon requesting the resumption of an RRC connection:

2> perform the unified access control procedure using the accesscategory and access identities provided by upper layers;

2> set the resumeCause in accordance with the information received fromupper layers;

3> if the access attempt is barred, the procedure ends;

1> else if the resumption of the RRC connection is triggered due to anRNA update:

2> if an emergency service is ongoing:

3> select ‘2’ as the access category;

2> else:

3> select ‘8’ as the access category;

2> perform the unified access control procedure using the selectedaccess category and one or more access identities to be applied;

3> if the access attempt is barred:

4> set the variable pendingRnaUpdate to true;

4> the procedure ends;

1> release the MCG SCell(s) from the UE inactive AS context, if stored;

1> apply the default L1 parameter values as specified in correspondingphysical layer specifications, except for the parameters for whichvalues are provided in SIB1;

1> apply the default SRB1 configuration;

1> apply the default MAC cell group configuration;

1> release delayBudgetReportingConfig from the UE Inactive AS context,if stored;

1> stop timer T342, if running;

1> release overheatingAssistanceConfig from the UE Inactive AS context,if stored;

1> stop timer T345, if running;

1> apply the CCCH configuration;

1> apply the timeAlignmentTimerCommon included in SIB1;

1> start timer T319;

1> set the variable pendingRnaUpdate to false;

1> initiate transmission of the RRCResumeRequest message orRRCResumeRequest1.

The UE shall set the contents of RRCResumeRequest or RRCResumeRequest1message as follows:

1> if field useFullResumeID is signalled in SIB1:

2> select RRCResumeRequest1 as the message to use;

2> set the resumeIdentity to the stored fullI-RNTI value;

1> else:

2> select RRCResumeRequest as the message to use;

2> set the resumeIdentity to the stored shortI-RNTI value;

1> restore the RRC configuration and AS security context from the storedUE Inactive AS context except the masterCellGroup;

1> set the resumeMAC-I to the 16 least significant bits of the MAC-Icalculated:

2> over the ASN.1 encoded as per clause 8 (i.e., a multiple of 8 bits)VarResumeMAC-Input;

2> with the K_(RRCint) key in the UE Inactive AS Context and thepreviously configured integrity protection algorithm; and

2> with all input bits for COUNT, BEARER and DIRECTION set to binaryones;

1> restore the RRC configuration and the K_(gNB) and K_(RRCint) keysfrom the UE Inactive AS context except the masterCellGroup andpdcp-Config;

1> derive the K_(gNB) key based on the current K_(gNB) key or the NH,using the stored nextHopChainingCount value;

1> derive the K_(RRCenc) key, the K_(RRCint) key, the K_(UPint) key andthe K_(UPenc) key;

1> configure lower layers to apply integrity protection for all radiobearers except SRB0 using the configured algorithm and the K_(RRCint)key and K_(UPint) key derived in this subclause immediately, i.e.,integrity protection shall be applied to all subsequent messagesreceived and sent by the UE;

1> configure lower layers to apply ciphering for all radio bearersexcept SRB0 and to apply the configured ciphering algorithm, theK_(RRCenc) key and the K_(UPenc) key, i.e., the ciphering configurationshall be applied to all subsequent messages received and sent by the UE;

1> re-establish PDCP entities for SRB1;

1> resume SRB1;

1> submit the selected message RRCResumeRequest or RRCResumeRequest1 fortransmission to lower layers.

The UE shall continue cell re-selection related measurements as well ascell re-selection evaluation.

Upon reception of the RRCResume by the UE, the UE shall:

1> stop timer T319;

1> stop timer T380, if running;

1> if the RRCResume includes the fullConfig:

2> perform the full configuration procedure;

1> else:

2> restore the masterCellGroup and pdcp-Config from the UE Inactive AScontext;

1> discard the UE Inactive AS context except theran-NotificationAreaInfo;

1> if the RRCResume includes the masterCellGroup:

2> perform the cell group configuration for the receivedmasterCellGroup;

1> if the RRCResume includes the radioBearerConfig:

2> perform the radio bearer configuration;

1> resume SRB2 and all DRBs;

1> if stored, discard the cell reselection priority information providedby the cellReselectionPriorities or inherited from another RAT;

1> stop timer T320, if running;

1> if the RRCResume message includes the measConfig:

2> perform the measurement configuration procedure;

1> resume measurements if suspended;

1> if T390 is running:

2> stop timer T390 for all access categories;

1> if T302 is running:

2> stop timer T302;

1> enter RRC_CONNECTED;

1> indicate to upper layers that the suspended RRC connection has beenresumed;

1> stop the cell re-selection procedure;

1> consider the current cell to be the PCell;

1> set the content of the of RRCResumeComplete message as follows:

2> if the upper layer provides NAS PDU, set the dedicatedNAS-Message toinclude the information received from upper layers;

2> if the upper layer provides a PLMN, set the selectedPLMN-Identity toPLMN selected by upper layers from the PLMN(s) included in theplmn-IdentityList in SIB1;

2> if the masterCellGroup contains the reportUplinkTxDirectCurrent:

3> include the uplinkTxDirectCurrentList;

1> submit the RRCResumeComplete message to lower layers fortransmission;

1> the procedure ends.

UE capability transfer is described. Section 5.6 of 3GPP TS 38.331V15.5.0 can be referred. How the UE compiles and transfers its UEcapability information upon receiving a UECapabilityEnquiry from thenetwork is described.

FIG. 15 shows an example of UE capability transfer to whichimplementations of the present disclosure is applied.

In step S1500, the network initiates the procedure to a UE inRRC_CONNECTED when it needs (additional) UE radio access capabilityinformation. In step S1510, the UE transmits UECapabilityInformation tothe network.

Upon reception of the UECapabilityEnquiry by the UE, the UE shall setthe contents of UECapabilityInformation message as follows:

1> if the ue-CapabilityRAT-RequestList contains aUE-CapabilityRAT-Request with rat-Type set to nr:

2> include in the ue-CapabilityRAT-ContainerList aUE-CapabilityRAT-Container of the type UE-NR-Capability and with therat-Type set to nr;

2> include the supportedBandCombinationList, featureSets andfeatureSetCombinations;

1> if the ue-CapabilityRAT-RequestList contains aUE-CapabilityRAT-Request with rat-Type set to eutra-nr:

2> if the UE supports EN-DC:

3> include in the ue-CapabilityRAT-ContainerList aUE-CapabilityRAT-Container of the type UE-MRDC-Capability and with therat-Type set to eutra-nr;

3> include the supportedBandCombinationList and featureSetCombinations;

1> if the ue-CapabilityRAT-RequestList contains aUE-CapabilityRAT-Request with rat-Type set to eutra:

2> if the UE supports E-UTRA:

3> include in the ue-CapabilityRAT-ContainerList aue-CapabilityRAT-Container of the type UE-EUTRA-Capability and with therat-Type set to eutra, according to the capabilityRequestFilter, ifreceived;

1> submit the UECapabilityInformation message to lower layers fortransmission, upon which the procedure ends.

For setting band combinations, feature set combinations and feature setssupported by the UE, the UE invokes the procedures if the NR or E-UTRAnetwork requests UE capabilities for nr, eutra-nr or eutra. Thisprocedure is invoked once per requested rat-Type. The UE shall ensurethat the feature set IDs and feature set combination IDs are consistentacross feature sets, feature set combinations and band combinations inall three UE capability containers that the network queries with thesame frequencyBandListFilter and with the same eutra-nr-only flag (whereapplicable).

In EN-DC, the gNB needs the capabilities for RAT types nr and eutra-nrand it uses the featureSets in the UE-NR-Capabilities together with thefeatureSetCombinations in the UE-MRDC-Capabilities to determine the NRUE capabilities for the supported MRDC band combinations. Similarly, theeNB needs the capabilities for RAT types eutra and eutra-nr and it usesthe featureSetsEUTRA-r15 in the UE-EUTRA-Capabilities together with thefeatureSetCombinations in the UE-MRDC-Capabilities to determine theE-UTRA UE capabilities for the supported MRDC band combinations. Hence,the IDs used in the featureSets must match the IDs referred to infeatureSetCombinations across all three containers. The requirement onconsistency implies that there are no undefined feature sets and featureset combinations.

The UE shall:

1> compile a list of “candidate band combinations” only consisting ofbands included in frequencyBandListFilter, and prioritized in the orderof frequencyBandListFilter (i.e. first include band combinationscontaining the first-listed band, then include remaining bandcombinations containing the second-listed band, and so on), where foreach band in the band combination, the parameters of the band do notexceed maxBandwidthRequestedDL, maxBandwidthRequestedUL,maxCarriersRequestedDL, maxCarriersRequestedUL,ca-BandwidthClassDL-EUTRA or ca-BandwidthClassUL-EUTRA, whichever arereceived;

1> for each band combination included in the list of “candidate bandcombinations”:

2> if the network (E-UTRA) included the eutra-nr-only field, or

2> if the requested rat-Type is eutra:

3> remove the NR-only band combination from the list of “candidate bandcombinations”;

2> if it is regarded as a fallback band combination with the samecapabilities of another band combination included in the list of“candidate band combinations”:

3> remove the band combination from the list of “candidate bandcombinations”;

1> if the requested rat-Type is nr:

2> include into supportedBandCombinationList as many NR-only bandcombinations as possible from the list of “candidate band combinations”,starting from the first entry;

3> if srs-SwitchingTimeRequest is received:

4> if sounding reference signal (SRS) carrier switching is supported;

5> include srs-SwitchingTimesListNR for each band combination;

4> set srs-SwitchingTimeRe quested to true;

2> include, into featureSetCombinations, the feature set combinationsreferenced from the supported band combinations as included insupportedBandCombinationList according to the previous;

2> compile a list of “candidate feature set combinations” referencedfrom the list of “candidate band combinations” excluding entries (rowsin feature set combinations) for fallback band combinations with same orlower capabilities;

2> include into featureSets the feature sets referenced from the“candidate feature set combinations” excluding entries (feature sets perCC) for fallback band combinations with same or lower capabilities andmay exclude the feature sets with the parameters that exceed any ofmaxBandwidthRequestedDL, maxBandwidthRequestedUL, maxCarriersRequestedDLor maxCarriersRequestedUL, whichever are received;

1> else, if the requested rat-Type is eutra-nr:

2> include into supportedBandCombinationList as many E-UTRA-NR bandcombinations as possible from the list of “candidate band combinations”,starting from the first entry;

3> if srs-SwitchingTimeRequest is received:

4> if SRS carrier switching is supported;

5> include srs-SwitchingTimesListNR and srs-SwitchingTimesListEUTRA foreach band combination;

4> set srs-SwitchingTimeRequested to true;

2> include, into featureSetCombinations, the feature set combinationsreferenced from the supported band combinations as included insupportedBandCombinationList according to the previous;

1> else (if the requested rat-Type is eutra):

2> compile a list of “candidate feature set combinations” referencedfrom the list of “candidate band combinations” excluding entries (rowsin feature set combinations) for fallback band combinations with same orlower capabilities;

2> include into featureSetsEUTRA the feature sets referenced from the“candidate feature set combinations” excluding entries (feature sets perCC) for fallback band combinations with same or lower capabilities andwhere the parameters do not exceed ca-BandwidthClassDL-EUTRA andca-BandwidthClassUL-EUTRA, whichever are received;

1> include the received frequencyBandListFilter in the fieldappliedFreqBandListFilter of the requested UE capability;

Idle mode measurement is described. Section 5.6.20 of 3GPP TS 36.331V15.5.0 can be referred.

This procedure specifies the measurements done by a UE in RRC_IDLE whenit has an IDLE mode measurement configuration and the storage of theavailable measurements by a UE in both RRC_IDLE and RRC_CONNECTED.

While T331 is running, the UE shall:

1> perform the measurements in accordance with the following:

2> for each entry in measIdleCarrierListEUTRA within VarMeasIdleConfig:

3> if UE supports carrier aggregation between serving carrier and thecarrier frequency and bandwidth indicated by carrierFreq andallowedMeasBandwidth within the corresponding entry;

4> perform measurements in the carrier frequency and bandwidth indicatedby carrierFreq and allowedMeasBandwidth within the corresponding entry;

4> if the measCellList is included:

5> consider the serving cell and cells identified by each entry withinthe measCellList to be applicable for idle mode measurement reporting;

4> else:

5> consider the serving cell and up to maxCellMeasIdle strongestidentified cells whose RSRP/RSRQ measurement results are above thevalue(s) provided in quality Threshold (if any) to be applicable foridle mode measurement reporting;

4> store measurement results for cells applicable for idle modemeasurement reporting within the VarMeasIdleReport;

3> else:

4> do not consider the carrier frequency to be applicable for idle modemeasurement reporting;

1> if validityArea is configured in VarMeasIdleConfig and UE reselectsto a serving cell whose physical cell identity does not match any entryin validityArea for the corresponding carrier frequency:

2> stop T331;

The UE shall:

1> if T331 expires or is stopped:

2> release the VarMeasIdleConfig;

As mentioned above, the UE may perform idle mode measurements, andreport results of the idle mode measurements. Then, the network canconfigure DC or CA for the UE based on the results of the idle modemeasurements. In this case, the network might not have UE capability touse idle mode measurement results for DC or CA setup. Therefore, thenetwork may need to get the capability from the UE, which may causeadditional latency.

Specifically, the network may not know whether a frequency for whichresults of the idle mode measurements can be aggregated by using CAand/or DC. For example, the network may configure CA by using a servingfrequency and a neighbor frequency for which only DC can be configured,which may be a problem. For another example, the network may configureDC by using a serving frequency and a neighbor frequency for which onlyCA can be configured, which may be a problem.

The following drawings are created to explain specific embodiments ofthe present disclosure. The names of the specific devices or the namesof the specific signals/messages/fields shown in the drawings areprovided by way of example, and thus the technical features of thepresent disclosure are not limited to the specific names used in thefollowing drawings.

In some implementations, the method in perspective of the wirelessdevice described below may be performed by first wireless device 100shown in FIG. 2 , the wireless device 100 shown in FIG. 3 , the firstwireless device 100 shown in FIG. 4 and/or the UE 100 shown in FIG. 5 .

In some implementations, the method in perspective of the wirelessdevice described below may be performed by control of the processor 102included in the first wireless device 100 shown in FIG. 2 , by controlof the communication unit 110 and/or the control unit 120 included inthe wireless device 100 shown in FIG. 3 , by control of the processor102 included in the first wireless device 100 shown in FIG. 4 and/or bycontrol of the processor 102 included in the UE 100 shown in FIG. 5 .

According to the present disclosure, a UE may be configured to performmeasurements in idle state (e.g., RRC_IDLE) and/or inactive state (e.g.,RRC_INACTIVE). The measurements in idle/inactive state may be configuredto provide early measurement results. While the UE performs connectionestablishment/resume, the UE may indicate a list of frequencies and/orwhether each frequency in the list supports 1) CA capability, 2) DCcapability, or 3) both capabilities with the serving frequency of cellthe UE is camped on.

According to the present disclosure, support of the CA capability and/orthe DC capability may indicate whether the UE can be configured withmultiple cell groups for CA and/or DC so that the concurrenttransmission/reception on the configured multiple cell groups issupported via CA and/or DC. Each cell group configured for CA and/or DCmay consist of at least of one SpCell, and zero or more serving cells.

FIG. 16 shows a method for a wireless device in a wireless communicationsystem to which implementations of the present disclosure is applied.

For example, the wireless device may be in communication with at leastone of a mobile device, a network, and/or autonomous vehicles other thanthe wireless device.

In step S1600, the wireless device receives, from a network, ameasurement configuration for measurement in an idle state and/or aninactive state.

In some implementations, the wireless device may perform connectionrelease procedure with the network. The UE may receive RRC releasemessage from the network. Upon receiving the RRC release message, the UEmay enter RRC_IDLE and/or RRC_INACTIVE.

For example, the measurement configuration for measurement in an idlestate and/or inactive state may be received via the RRC release message.The measurement configuration for measurement in the idle state and/orinactive state may include a list of frequencies to be measured in theidle state and/or inactive state. The measurement configuration formeasurement in the idle state and/or inactive state may include a listof cells to be measured for each frequency in the idle state and/orinactive state.

In step S1610, the wireless device performs the measurement based on themeasurement configuration in the idle state and/or the inactive state.

In some implementations, the wireless device may send a connectionrequest message to establish and/or resume RRC connection with a servingcell.

In some implementations, the wireless device may receive a responsemessage in response to the connection request message from the network.The UE may identify at least one frequency associated with each cellfrom cell group configuration as follows.

-   -   The wireless device may check whether specific cell(s) is valid        based on the results of the measurements in the idle state        and/or inactive state. Valid cell may mean that radio quality of        the corresponding cell is above a threshold.    -   If the radio quality of at least one cell is above the threshold        in a frequency (i.e., valid cell), then the UE may identify the        frequency associated with each valid cell.

In some implementations, the wireless device may check whether thewireless device can perform CA operation and/or DC operation based on aband combination of the identified frequency associated with each(valid) cell and serving frequency.

In step S1620, the wireless device reports, to the network, informationinforming that the identified frequency can be aggregated with theserving frequency using one of 1) CA, 2) DC, or 3) both CA and DC.

For example, if at least one frequency among the identified frequenciesis capable of CA operation and/or DC operation with the servingfrequency, i.e., the wireless device can perform CA operation and/or DCoperation based on a band combination of the at least one frequency andthe serving frequency, then the UE may report information on thefrequencies capable of CA operation and/or DC operation and/or cellID(s) associated with the frequencies.

For example, the wireless device may report capability information aboutwhether each frequency and/or cell associated to the cell ID supports 1)CA capability, 2) DC capability, or 3) both CA and DC capabilities tothe network.

For example, the wireless device may further report idle measurementresults to the network.

For example, when the wireless device is in the idle state (e.g.,RRC_IDLE), the information may be reported during RRC connectionestablishment procedure, i.e., transit from the idle state to theconnected state (e.g., RRC_CONNECTED).

In this case, the information (e.g., UE Capability Information) may bereported via a UE information response message after security isactivated. The UE capability Information may be multiplexed with the UEinformation response message. The contents of the UE capabilityInformation may be added as information element (IE) within the UEinformation response message.

For example, when the wireless device is in the inactive state (e.g.,RRC_INACTIVE), the information may be reported during RRC connectionresume procedure, i.e., transit from the inactive state to the connectedstate (e.g., RRC_CONNECTED).

In this case, the information (e.g., UE Capability Information) may bereported via an RRC resume complete message after security is activated.The UE capability Information may be multiplexed with the RRC resumecomplete message. The contents of the UE capability Information may beincluded as IE within the RRC resume complete message.

In some implementations, the wireless device may be configured withmultiple cell groups, i.e., CA and/or DC. The UE may activate cell(s) inat least one cell group of the multiple cell groups. The wireless devicemay perform the CA operation and/or the DC operation based on the bandcombination of the serving frequency and the neighbor frequency.

FIG. 17 shows an example of a RRC connection establishment procedure towhich implementations of the present disclosure is applied.

In step S1700, the UE enters RRC_CONNECTED.

In step S1702, the UE receives a Security Mode Command message from thenetwork, upon which security is activated.

In step S1704, the UE receives the UE Capability Enquiry message fromthe network. The UE Capability Enquiry message may be received via a UEInformation Request message.

In step S1706, the UE transmits the UE Capability Information message tothe network. The UE Capability Information message may includeinformation on the frequencies capable of CA operation and/or DCoperation and/or cell ID(s) associated with the frequencies and/orcapability information about whether each frequency and/or cellassociated to the cell ID supports 1) CA capability, 2) DC capability,or 3) both CA and DC capabilities to the network.

The UE Capability Information message may be transferred via the UEInformation Response message. The UE Capability Information message maybe multiplexed with the UE Information Response message. The contents ofthe UE Capability Information message may be added as IE within the UEInformation Response message.

In step S1708, the UE receives a RRC Reconfiguration message from thenetwork.

In step S1710, the UE transmits a Security Mode Complete message to thenetwork.

In step S1712, the UE transmits a RRC Reconfiguration Complete messageto the network.

FIG. 18 shows an example of a RRC connection resume procedure to whichimplementations of the present disclosure is applied.

In step S1800, the UE transmits a RRC Resume Request message to thenetwork.

In step S1802, the UE receives a RRC Resume message from the network,upon which security in activate. The UE may further receive earlymeasurement report request from the network. The UE may further receivesthe UE Capability Enquiry message from the network.

In step S1804, the UE transmits the RRC Resume Complete message to thenetwork. The UE may further transmit early measurement report message tothe network.

The UE may further transmit the UE Capability Information message to thenetwork. The UE Capability Information message may include informationon the frequencies capable of CA operation and/or DC operation and/orcell ID(s) associated with the frequencies and/or capability informationabout whether each frequency and/or cell associated to the cell IDsupports 1) CA capability, 2) DC capability, or 3) both CA and DCcapabilities to the network.

The UE Capability Information message may be transferred via the RRCResume Complete message. The UE Capability Information message may bemultiplexed with the RRC Resume Complete message. The contents of the UECapability Information message may be added as IE within the RRC ResumeComplete message.

The present disclosure can have various advantageous effects.

For example, the present disclosure is beneficial in latency perspective

For example, the present disclosure is a network (e.g., gNB) can setupDC or CA quickly without enquiring UE capability information of DC orCA.

Advantageous effects which can be obtained through specific embodimentsof the present disclosure are not limited to the advantageous effectslisted above. For example, there may be a variety of technical effectsthat a person having ordinary skill in the related art can understandand/or derive from the present disclosure. Accordingly, the specificeffects of the present disclosure are not limited to those explicitlydescribed herein, but may include various effects that may be understoodor derived from the technical features of the present disclosure.

Claims in the present disclosure can be combined in a various way. Forinstance, technical features in method claims of the present disclosurecan be combined to be implemented or performed in an apparatus, andtechnical features in apparatus claims can be combined to be implementedor performed in a method. Further, technical features in method claim(s)and apparatus claim(s) can be combined to be implemented or performed inan apparatus. Further, technical features in method claim(s) andapparatus claim(s) can be combined to be implemented or performed in amethod. Other implementations are within the scope of the followingclaims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method performed by a wireless device operatingin a wireless communication system, the method comprising: receiving,from a network, an idle/inactive measurement configuration for ameasurement in a radio resource control (RRC) idle state and/or an RRCinactive state, wherein the idle/inactive measurement configurationincludes a list of one or more frequencies to be measured; performingthe measurement based on the idle/inactive measurement configurationwhile in the RRC idle state and/or the RRC inactive state; transmitting,to the network, a connection request message to transition from the RRCidle state and/or the RRC inactive state to an RRC connected state;receiving, from the network, a response message in response to theconnection request message; identifying at least one frequency, fromamong the one or more frequencies, of which at least one cell is validbased on results of the measurement; checking whether a specificfrequency from among the at least one frequency is capable of a carrieraggregation (CA) operation and/or a dual connectivity (DC) operationwith a serving frequency; and based on the specific frequency beingcapable of the CA operation and/or the DC operation with the servingfrequency, reporting, to the network, information regarding the specificfrequency and cell identifiers (IDs) associated with the specificfrequency.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further includesperforming the CA operation and/or the DC operation based on a bandcombination of the serving frequency and the specific frequency.
 3. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the method further includes reporting, to thenetwork, results of the measurement on the specific frequency.
 4. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the information is reported via a userequipment (UE) information response message after security is activated.5. The method of claim 1, wherein the information is reported via an RRCresume complete message after security is activated.
 6. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the wireless device is in communication with at leastone of a mobile device, a network, and/or autonomous vehicles other thanthe wireless device.
 7. A wireless device configured to operate in awireless communication system, the wireless device comprising: at leastone transceiver; at least one processor; and at least one computermemory operably connectable to the at least one processor and storinginstructions that, based on being executed by the at least oneprocessor, perform operations comprising: receiving, from a networkusing the at least one transceiver, an idle/inactive measurementconfiguration for a measurement in a radio resource control (RRC) idlestate and/or an RRC inactive state, wherein the idle/inactivemeasurement configuration includes i) a list of one or more frequenciesto be measured; performing the measurement based on the idle/inactivemeasurement configuration while in the RRC idle state and/or the RRCinactive state; transmitting, to the network using the at least onetransceiver, a connection request message to transition from the RRCidle state and/or the RRC inactive state to an RRC connected state;receiving, from the network using the at least one transceiver, aresponse message in response to the connection request message;identifying at least one frequency, from among the one or morefrequencies, of which at least one cell is valid based on results of themeasurement; checking whether a specific frequency from among the atleast one frequency is capable of a carrier aggregation (CA) operationand/or a dual connectivity (DC) operation with a serving frequency; andbased on the specific frequency being capable of the CA operation and/orthe DC operation with the serving frequency, reporting, to the networkusing the at least one transceiver, information regarding the specificfrequency and cell identifiers (IDs) associated with the specificfrequency.
 8. The wireless device of claim 7, wherein the operationsfurther include performing the CA operation and/or the DC operationbased on a band combination of the serving frequency and the specificfrequency.
 9. The wireless device of claim 7, wherein the operationsfurther include reporting, to the network, results of the measurementson the specific frequency.
 10. The wireless device of claim 7, whereinthe information is reported via a user equipment (UE) informationresponse message after security is activated.
 11. The wireless device ofclaim 7, wherein the information is reported via an RRC resume completemessage after security is activated.
 12. A processing apparatusconfigured to operate a wireless device in a wireless communicationsystem, the processing apparatus comprising: at least one processor; andat least one memory operably connectable to the at least one processor,wherein the at least one processor is configured to perform operationscomprising: obtaining an idle/inactive measurement configuration for ameasurement in a radio resource control (RRC) idle state and/or an RRCinactive state, wherein the idle/inactive measurement configurationincludes a list of one or more frequencies to be measured; performingthe measurement based on the idle/inactive measurement configurationwhile in the RRC idle state and/or the RRC inactive state; generating aconnection request message to transition from the RRC idle state and/orthe RRC inactive state to an RRC connected state; obtaining a responsemessage in response to the connection request message; identifying atleast one frequency, from among the one or more frequencies, of which atleast one cell is valid based on results of the measurement; checkingwhether a specific frequency from among the at least one frequency iscapable of a carrier aggregation (CA) operation and/or a dualconnectivity (DC) operation with a serving frequency; and based on thespecific frequency being capable of the CA operation and/or the DCoperation with the serving frequency, controlling the wireless device toreport information regarding the specific frequency and cell identifiers(IDs) associated with the specific frequency.